Mother's Day @ the Marriott (Part ll)

So, yes, we're at the Marriott. My friend told me years ago that they are known for their beds. I'd have to agree, they are firm and soft, it's like sleeping on a celestial cloud. I slept WELL!!!! I feel renewed and I will now have a WONDERFUL Mother's Day.

India watched her friend on Friday swim underwater and all of a sudden, she's now diving under the water and kicking her legs.

It's so cute, she runs, jumps and dives under water. She practiced swimming from Jonathan to me.

I find the age of 4 amazing. She just wakes up one day and can swim, or carry on lonnnngggg conversations with other men and strangers (while she's sitting with or near us). I LOVE it!

I know I've mentioned it before. I LOVE having a 4 year old!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

(My pictures didn't turn out the 1st time. I don't remember how to turn them around. Sorry they are sideways.)

Mother's day

We done a few group camping trips and they're such grat fun. So many adults to watch the kids, who are already occupied and playing together. There's lots of time to read, swim, snorkel, kayak, sleep - whenever you like.

We arrived after Sklar and her mom and Friday, so the girls got a head start playing together before an afternoon swim before dinner. Here's the orgainzed menu and group effort:

SATURDAY NIGHT – BBQ:

    

Britta - peanut marinated chicken and veggie kabobs and a kale salad, cookies

Bari - big green salad 

Petina – turkey dogs (kids) & garlic bread

Merritt - squash butternut, beets, carrots, baked potatos, s&p, chives, sr cream, Bratwurst, watermelon

April – veggie burgers & fix’ins, tofu dogs (kids too), choc chip/coconut bars

Chad- burgers

 Rachel- ginger/garlic marinated short ribs and some pineapples to grill. Maybe some more veggie kabobs too (mushrooms and onions, my favorite!)

 Isis- a seaweed with Tako (octopus) dish, potato salad?, maybe some fruit salad?

SUNDAY NIGHT – MEXICAN:

Petina – chicken fajitas (chicken, onion, green peppers)

Bari - shredded cheese, corn on the cobb, homemade refried beans

Free – lentil taco filling, green onion, sour cream, bar dessert

Merritt - Tortillas, horchata, Mex-marinade chicken, Guacamole &/or avos, Cilantro, greens for taco bed, Sautéed fish, pineapple

April – mexi-style rice, salsa, chips, lots o black olives (kids luv’em too)

Isis –yummy Mexican salad and some ingredients for Sangria

Britta- more chips, more olives

Rachel-  corn on the cob (so bari doesnt have to buy 50 ears of corn!!), cilantro salt to rub on the corn, a couple of homemade salsas from the farmers market guy, and tortilla chips. 

KID’S CRAFTS:

Britta - paper and crayons for drawing, tennis gear, bike

Free - construction paper and markers

Bari - bikes, sidewalk chalk, watercolors & tennis balls

April – tennis gear, stickers, white glue (collect sea shells and glue designs), food coloring for sand art, bike if it fits?

Rachel- origami paper (Jules' favorite right now) and bubble guns.

Merritt- treasure hunt extravaganza

The crafts began right away with families arrive Friday afternoon.

The swimming for young ones is awesome here. The water is warm, clear and calm. This is Ava with India and Joanthan.

The kids LOVE playing with the big kid! :)

Everything started well. India went to sleep (she's the first one, as we have an early bedtime before any late night melt downs can happen. She heard her friends running around playing and laughing and she layed right down and went to sleep.

...and then the wind picked up.

Spencer Beach and be REAL windy. People have ripped their tents camping there. Our new tent's "fly" was not a full coverage fly, so it let in LOTS of wind and sand. Then it flew or tore off twice. There I was lying under the stars with just a sheet inbetween and these guys are walking around me trying to get the fly back on. I just smiled. India kept sleeping - what an angel.

I fell asleep somewhere after 2 and was awake founc 5. Each time I blinked a little more fine sand fell in my eyes. Everything stayed calm until we got down to the beach around 9 and the winds started up again.

We looked on Priceline and got a room at the Marriott w/ two salt water pools and a waterslide. Jonathan requested and got our room upgrades. It's beatuiful. I am so happy. It was hard to leave our friends and the fun and the food and the camping party, but I am happy to have a calm, cozy place to stay. The first thing I did was jump in the shower and wash the sand away...

(Part two is next, blogger only uploaded a few photos.)

Garden Tub

Our shower and bathtube are out side. I call it my "true garden tub."

This is Rita, HE came with the house, along Lilly (another HE) and Chrysanthemum (a true girl). India named them.

They love water and live outdoors - so they're used to LOTS and lots of rain. India enjoys them and they love the attention.

What do you think of the garden tub?

Being a better mom

This piggy backs to “Enjoying Life.” I find myself pulled in many directions, and often by my own will or mind. Each time I do, I notice things are tense with India. One of the major reasons I moved to Hawaii was to enjoy nature and focused time with India. When I start working in my on-line store or on face book or doing some research for a new lotion or potion, I find myself being impatient and ineffective with India. She wants some time from me and I just want her to play by herself. And she does, she plays really well by herself. The timing of all of this just isn’t always perfect, or is it? I don’t feel I’m being a good mom as I’m reading a post from FB or a friend’s blog and India wants something from me and I put her off or am impatient. I feel that I should always speak gently to her and never feel frustrated or pulled. If I didn’t have a computer, would be having this battle? I hear my perfectionism creeping in here. Ugh! One of my friends is the MOST free-flowing person I’ve ever met. She blows w/ the breeze and thinks almost all of it is just wonderful. She’s not demanding or difficult at all (except when the breeze blows her by 1 ½ late…). She seems very present and content. She definitely is a model for me. She’s present with her children and I think that’s where I’m annoyed with myself, when I’m not present with India. I can tend to snap, and that’s just ugly. Yes, I know, I’m human, and I’d like to be a kinder human. I wonder/wish I would/could save my computer time for naptime. I love my morning Facebook and tea… Hmmm, how do you feel about this topic and how do you deal with it in your life?

Burnt Toast

My mom always ate the burnt toast in our family. This is back when the electric toaster still occassionally (or regularly) burnt the toast – we’ve come a long way since then. She acted like she liked it. She also ate the burnt cookies and even burnt pop corn. I faintly recall her saying that she “likes the burnt ones.” I have to say that hardly anything burns anymore these days. Only if I broil – it takes too long to sit there and wait for it and yet, if I get involved in one more task, it usually burns. We don’t have a toaster her, actually, very few electrical appliances. We don’t have any that heat – that takes a lot of electricity and we live “off grid,” so we rely on solar panals and car batteries for our energy. It works well if you don’t plug in any heating appliance. I make our toast in the iron skillet (I used to use the broiler – see above). I spread coconut oil on both sides and toast. It’s so yummy. Well, one side of one piece was burnt. I knew who was going to be eating that. India said she wanted eggs and toast. I LOVE over easy eggs on toast. I put the burnt side down and put two soft eggs on top. I had to make her more Dandyblend “coffee” and then get her a fork. Then I sat down to enjoy one of my favorite breakfasts. It wasn’t until about the 5^th bite that I remembered my toast was burnt. It actually was good, I think it added more flavor to my meal. I might actually like burnt toast too.

A dear friend lost her mother about 14 years ago and she remenices about what she remembers and loves about her mother. I am so fortunate to still have mine. It doesn’t mean I don’t remenice any less. Burnt toast will always remind me of my mother, in a very good way. I love you mom! 

Enjoying Life

A few weeks ago I was at a park and one of the mother’s was overwhelmed with all that she had on her plate. She had some childcare, but was accommodating the sitter, her friend she was sharing sitting with and none of it was working out for her. Finally she admitted that she’s just not good at house keeping. I kept playing the conversation over in my mind. I believed as a mother, staying home with my daughter I should be able to run a tight ship. Keep the house cleaned and organized, the fridge full, dishes washed, meals prepared, laundry washed/folded/put away, child and self cleaned and clothed and well rested – not to mention keeping in touch with friends and family and all the other little things I’ve thrown in there. I used to love to spend hours cleaning out cupboards and closets and reorganizing them. There is no such time in my life anymore. I started to come to the conclusion that I’m not good at “keeping house” with a child to care for at the same time. I tried on that thought several times that day and found a relief admitting that. Yes, I am not good at keeping house the way I would like it kept. Yes, that feels good to admit that and release the burden of trying to fight against it. I had a wonderfully releasing dream that night about moving on to a different life/space. Others were moving to, they were just not at peace with it or ready to embrace it as I was. I awoke the next morning with the vision of living my life in Hawaii with joy and having as much fun as possible. How long will I get to have India home with me and how long will we get to enjoy nature, our friends and the beach? None of us actually knows. Why be upset about my less than organized house, it wasn’t getting anymore organized that way. I might as well still have a less than organized house AND be enjoying the beach and all the fun I can. It may not be that way tomorrow…who wants regrets.

I’m still reminding myself of my new life’s mission, today wasn’t so fun or easy. I can try again after nap or after dinner or tomorrow. I don’t have to be perfect at any of this. Just do my best and enjoy the ride/journey as much as possible. So, if you see me getting too serious, ask me when I was last at the beach or what is currently bringing me joy. That should help adjust my focus.